Handled double bag



Sept. 5, 1967 v. s. LUKE HANDLED DOUBLE BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1965 M/l/E/VTOR Vic/0r '5. Luke AGE/VT Sept. 5, 1967 v. s. LUKE HANDLED DOUBLE BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 53 Filed Oct. 18, 1965 H m w m M T f m w fr V W L H W. 8 2 0 3 l 8 2 AGE/VT United States Patent 3,339,824 HANDLED DOUBLE BAG Victor S. Luke, Scarsdale, N.Y., assignor to West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 496,892 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-56) This invention relates to dual-compartment bags which are equipped with a carrying handle and particularly relates to paper shopping bags which are adapted for hand transport of groceries and like articles.

Suspension-type support means, such as handles, are particularly suitable for paper bags because the paper is subjected to tensile forces instead of buckling forces. For example, loop-type handles affixed to opposite sides of a common grocery bag form a paired carrying means and can greatly simplify the task of carrying a filled bag. In common usage, a shopper grasps both handles in one hand whereby the handles are brought into parallel juxtaposition and the sides of the bag are pulled towards each other. These handles form a generally satisfactory carry ing means but are often inconvenient because the interior of the bag is partially sealed off and is thus relatively inaccessible during transit. Another method of attaching carrying handles is to loop a single strap from one side of the bag to the other. This type of handle also tends to compress the bag contents and interferes with loading thereof during transit.

Paper bags and cartons which are divided into compartments are well known. Examples are cartons having internal dividing walls which define compartments suitable for holding and supporting individual bottles and similar objects. Paper bags having at least one internal dividing wall, which thereby creates at least two compartments, are also known in the prior art.

It is an object of this invention to provide a handled double bag which is accessible for loading while suspended by the handle.

It is a particular object of this invention to provide a two-compartment paper shopping bag having a common carrying handle whereby unimpeded access to the opened compartments is available while the shopping bag is suspended from the handle and being hand-carried.

This objective is attained by suspending two bags of similar size and carrying capacity from a common handle having a lower part which is between the bags and is adhesively attached to the upper portion of the near side of each bag. squareabottomed bags are preferred but are not essential. This structural arrangement causes the bags to abut against each when loaded and to provide mutual support so that the bags remain upright if equally loaded and tend to lean outwards whereby their tops are kept spread apart. This arrangement also makes optimum use of paper properties by subjecting the paper structure almost entirely to tensile forces if the handle is properly designed to minimize tear forces.

As the drawings show, the invention is essentially a handled double bag and comprises two open-mouth bags 20, 40 in parallel relationship and a common handle which is interjacent to the inner walls 21, 41 of the bags 20, 40 and adhesively fastened thereto near their top edges. In the accompanying drawings, two preferred embodiments of the carrying handle 10 are illustrated: a fiat handle 10A and a folded handle 10B. The parts are identified by the same numbers, as follows:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the fiat-handled embodiment of the invention as the dual-compartment shopping bag might stand upon a floor or hang from the hand of a shopper while empty.

FIGURE 2 is a section taken along the lines 22 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of flat handle 10A.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of a single bag 20 with a moderate load therein which is suspended from flat handle 10A of abutting bag 40 which is largely omitted; this view is essentially a partial side view of FIGURE 1 to illustrate how the bags 20, 40 remain essentially upright yet ten-d to lean outward when loaded.

FIGURE 5 is a back elevation view of bag 20 and flat handle 10A shown in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a plan View of preferred embodiment of folded handle 10B in unfolded condition.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the folded-handle embodiment of the invention which shows the handsupported handled double bag carrying moderate loads which are evenly distributed over bottom areas of the bags.

FIGURE 8 is a stylized side view of the folded-handle embodiment of the invention with the two bags in folded form for convenience in shipping and storing.

The bags 20, 40, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, have bottoms 30, 50, inner walls 21, 41, outer walls 24, 44, side walls 23, 43, and 22, 42, top edges 29, 49, inner corners 34, 54, outer corners 35, 55, gusset folds 25, 45, bottom folds 27, 47, and compression creases 26, 46.

When assembling the two-compartment shopping bag of this invention, inner wall 21 of bag 20 is placed adjacent and parallel to inner wall 41 of bag 40. The open tops with top edges 29, 49 are at the same height, and the flat bottoms 30, 50 of the bags 20, 40, respectively, are in the same plane. Handle 10, in the form of the flat rigid sheet 10A shown in FIGURE 1 or as the stiff :but bendable sheet 10B folded as shown in FIGURE 7, is placed therebetween near the tops of the bags 20, 40 and fastened securely to the inner walls 21 and 41 with adhesive. Handle 10 may extend from one-fifth to as much as one-half the distance down the inner walls 21, 41, but a considerable depth is not necessary because the tensile strength of paper under shearing stresses is more than adequate and because the worst stress concentrations occur elsewhere than in inner walls 21, 41.

Handle 10 has a hand opening 11, a load-supporting area 14 thereabove, a top edge 18, a bag-contacting area 12 beneath the hand opening 11, load-separation cuts 13, and load-directing lines 16 defined by length of cut 13 and angle 19, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 6. Cuts 13, parallel to the top edge 18, are made for a short distance, such as 10-15 of the length of top edge 18, near each corner of the rectangular sheets shown in FIGURES 3 and 6 and are located so as to be very slightly above the tops 29, 49 of the bags 20, 40 when handles 10 are adhesively fastened therebetween. Each cut is intercepted near its inward end by a diagonal cut 16A in fiat handle 10A or by a score line 16B in folded handle 10B. Triangular corner pieces are thus defined which are removed from flat handle 10A and which are retained as flaps 17 in folded handles 10B.

Flat handle 18A has a relatively strong and stiff loadsupporting area 14 above hand opening 11 and a bagcontacting area 12 beneath hand opening 11 which must be stiff enough to resist sidewise buckling forces. Flat handle 10A supports bags 20, 40 by shear forces along adhesive junctures between walls 21, 41 and each side of bag-contacting area 12.

Load-directing angles 19 and displacement of cuts 16A inwardly are particularly important for handle 10A because loaded bags concentrate the outward component of each diagonal stress line 36, 56 in gusset walls 22, 42 and 23, 43 along the edge of a corresponding cut 16A and thus create peeling forces which may be distributed along, or concentrated at a single point on, cuts 16A. As shown in FIGURE 5, inner-side stress edge lines 38 in the inner wall 21 of bag 20 extend diagonally from the outer limits of the loads along bottom 30 to the cuts 16A and preferably coincide therewith. The inner corner folds 34 thus merge into walls 22, 23. If a cut 16A crosses a stress edge line 38 in bag 20 or 58 in bag 40, instead of coinciding therewith, the crossing point will be a point of peeling stress concentration which Will induce tearing of the paper at that point or peeling of the paper away from handle A.

A single thickness of double-faced corrugated fiber board, made of corrugated nine-point board lined on each side with kraft linerboard, has been successfully used as fiat handles 10A shown in FIGURES l, 2, 3, 4, and 5, under light to moderate loads. Hardboard, such 52S hardboard of As-inch thickness, is also satisfactory for making flat handles 10A.

Folded handle 10B, shown in FIGURES 6, 7, and 8, also has a load-supporting area 14 above hand opening 11 and a bag-contacting area 12 below hand opening area 11 on each side of top edge 18. This folded handle 10B is better adapted than flat handle 10A to resist peeling stresses because tensile stresses are distributed to handle 10B over a larger area and flaps 17 absorb par of the peeling loads.

Any flat, foldable material having adequate strength and stiffness may be used for manufacturing handles 10B. A highly suitable handle 10B is formed from two layers of 69-lb. linerboard laminated together and cut to the shape shown in FIGURE 6. A finger-grip opening may be out completely out on each side of middle score line 18 to form a pair of hand openings 11 of the type shown in FIGURE 3 for flat handle 10A, but it is preferred to cut an opening 11 on one side of middle score line 18 and to cut on three sides and score at the inner side of the other hand opening 11 in order that a tab 11 may be formed which can provide a broader and more comfortable handgrip when folded toward and through opening 11 after the sheet is folded along score line 18 to form the doubled handle 10B, as shown in FIGURE 8. Score line 18 thus becomes top edge 18 which may be stiffened by inserting a long, slender piece of stiff material, such as wood, between load-supporting areas 14.

Folded handle 10B is adhesively fastened to the upper parts of inner walls 21, 41, as shown in FIGURE 7, and can be adhered to either inner or outer surfaces thereof. Unlike FIGURE 8, adherence to inner surfaces of inner walls 21, 41 is preferred. Flaps 17 bend conformably with outward components of diagonal stress lines 36, 56, to a degree depending upon stiffness of the material forming folded handle 108. The bending resistance of flaps 17 helps to diffuse peeling forces created by diagonal stresses 36, 56, and 38, 58, and adherence of a loadcontacting area 14 to an inner surface of inner walls 21, 41 eliminates the peeling forces. Inner-wall stresses 38, 58 are especially spread out with handle 10B so that they are hardly noticeable. Moreover, the flaps 17 reinforce the paper of bags 20, 40 by adding the relatively great tear strength of the handle material to the paper tear strength to absorb tear forces at the inward ends of cuts 13. Tear behavior can be further minimized by curvingly terminating cuts 13 in an upward or downward direction and into approximate coincidence with stress edge lines 38, 58.

The handle for the handled double bag of this inventionmay be described as existing in two basic types: a flat and a divergent form. The former is exemplified by fiat handle 10A and the latter by folded handle 10B. Flat handle 10A must be of relatively rigid material to resist columnar buckling forces. It can vary as to size of the notch formed by removal of each triangular corner piece defined by intersection of a diagonal cut 16A and a loadseparation cut 13. The diagonal cuts 16A can form an angle 19, as shown in FIGURE 3, which can vary from 90 to as little as 45 for a bag having a depth only half as great as its width and for a handle having a notch at each corner which is large enough to place the lower end of diagonal cut 16A nearly in the middle of the handle. An angle 19 of 60 to 80, however, is more general 4 for bags in commercial use. This angle 19 is generally the same as the angle between a diagonal cut 16A and a load-separation cut 13.

The divergent form is distinguished by use of relatively flexible sheet material and obtains necessary stiffness from the inverted V-shape of the handle in the load-supporting area 14 above the hand opening 11 wherein top edge 18, as shown in FIGURE 7, functions like the ridgepole of a gable roof. Its angle 19, as shown in FIGURE 6, also can vary from to as little as 45, but score line 16B can be omitted entirely if the sheet material is sufficiently flexible.

The divergent form can alternatively be of two-piece or single-piece construction. The single-piece construction produces folded handle 10B, as described hereinbefore. The two-piece construction essentially uses duplicate flat handles which are made of relatively flexible sheet material and are conjoined along their top edges 18. Flexibility of the sheet material makes corner notches unnecessary, however, and flaps 17 more useful. Properly constructed, the two-piece divergent form of handle is as satisfactory as folded handle 10B and can be of great commercial utility. For example, two single bags, each having a flat handle of relatively flexible material which is adhesively fastened to the upper portion of one wall of each bag, can be conjoined along top edges 18 just before use, whereby numerous shipping and storing problems are avoided. Conjoining can be quickly accomplished if the outside top edge of one handle is coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Alternatively, three or more wire staples can be used for conjoining these fiat handles 10A.

Hand opening 11, in the flat form as exemplified by flat handle 10A or in the divergent form as exemplified by folded handle 10B and the conjoined flexible handle, is essentially a manual grasping means. Specialized openings or attachments which are suitable for tongs of an overhead conveyor or fork tine of a fork-lift truck can obviously be incorporated in either of the basic types of handle for this handled double bag without departing from the spirit of this invention.

It is characteristic of the handled double bag of this invention that the joined bags, when loaded equally, press against each other with appreciable force and thereby form a stable and useful combination. For example, the sidewise thrust at the bottom of a one-sixth bushel bag 20 equals about 20% of its load. The load, measured vertically, is sustained by three of the four walls; it is divided approximately equally among inner wall 21, side wall 22, and side wall 23. No load is supported by outer wall 24.

A bag bottom 30, of a typical suspended bag 20 which has center area 32 and side flaps 31, 33, ideally functions in the dual-compartment bag of this invention as a horizontal beam supported at one inner end by a flexible support, such as a cable or flexible paper wall 21, and on the sides by a family of cables converging upon the sides of the handle 10 and imbedded within side walls 22, 23. In practice, the side wall stresses seem to be principally represented by the observable line 36 of stress concentration in side walls 22, 23.

The load against the bottom 30 of the bag 20 exerts a moment about handle 10 which tends to cause the bag 20 to pivot just beneath handle 10 and thus lean outward slightly as shown in FIGURES 4 and 7. The dual bags 20, 40 touch each other at the bottom edges but are slightly apart just below handle 10. This effect is particularly noticeable for the embodiment using folded handle 10B. In consequence, side walls 22, 23 tend to come closer together and inner wall 21 and outer wall 24 tend to become farther apart so that the top openings become approximately square in shape, whereby the instant combination enables a shopper to carry with one hand a large capacity container which remains in open condition during transit so that selected objects may be placed therein without stopping, putting down the container, and releasing the handle.

Typical grocery bags, such as those made of 52-pound to 65-pound kraft paper, are satisfactory for practicing this invention. For specialized uses, 70-pound kraft paper, scrim-reinforced paper, and other strong flexible materials are useful for manufacturing bags 20, 40. Bags made of extensible paper are especially suitable because the dualcompartment shopping bag of this invention utilizes the toughness of extensible paper and is not hindered by its flexibility. For extensible kraft paper measured in the cross-machine direction, the 57-pound grade has a tensile strength of about 14 pounds per inch of width, and the 70-pound grade has a tensile strength of about 17 pounds per inch of width.

A dual-compartment paper shopping bag, which had been constructed with a folded handle 103 between two grocery bags 20, 40 of one-sixth bushel size made of 70- pound kraft extensible paper, sustained a load of 31 pounds in each bag compartment without difficulty when hand-carried. A normal load of conventional grocery articles weighed a total of 27 pounds and was more than heavy enough for most housewives. Another shopping bag, which had been constructed with a flat handle A and two short grocery bags 20, 40 of one-sixth bushel size made of 57-pound kraft extensible paper, sustained a hand-held load of 29 pounds in each bag. These total loads are obviously in excess of common shopping re-' quirements. The 70-pound bags measured 11 inches across inner walls 21, 41, and the 57-pound bags measured 12 inches across inner walls 21, 41.

Because the inner Wall 21 and the two side walls 22, 23 of a typical suspended bag 20 each sustain about onethird of the load and because the tensile strength of the paper is much in excess of a convenient load, it follows that li-ght weight papers can be used, particularly if stress concentrations can be diffused, or if bag portions where stress concentrations occur can be reinforced. Tape, made of paper, scrim-reinforced paper, cloth, or plastic films, for example, is an excellent reinforcing material for placing at points of stress concentrations such as the juncture of a stress line 36, 56 with flap 17 or at an intersection of a top edge 29, 49 with the side of a flap 17 or edge 16A of a notch in handle 10A.

The dual-compartment shopping bag of this invention can be altered in design for maximum effectiveness. For use in discount stores and grocery stores, for example, the bags can be decreased in depth whereby loads can be decreased without decreasing accessibility of contents. It is characteristic of this invention, however, that each component bag must be loaded approximately equally; if only one bag of the combination receives a load, the dual-compartment bag becomes unbalanced and does not function properly.

For use as a waste paper container or as an industrial waste container, the bags can be made much larger, such as with sides of three-foot depth and a capacity of twelve cubic feet for each bag. This large two-compartment bag can be suspended above the floor of a furniture shop, metal working shop, or food processing plant while stationed near a workplace or being carried by a hook conveyor. A single prong of a fork-lift truck can be inserted into the handle opening or into a modified grasping means for removal thereof.

I claim:

1. A dual-compartment shopping bag which is accessible for loading while being hand-carried, comprising:

(A) a pair of open-mouth paper bags in parallel relationship, each bag having a fiat bottom and four upright walls,

(B) a load-supporting handle, made of sheet material,

that is interposed between said paper bags and is adhesively attached to the top portions of the adjacent walls thereof, comprising:

(1) top and bottom edges,

(2) side edges that are separated by approximately the width of said adjacent walls,

(3) an upper portion that includes a grasping means, and

(4) a lower portion, comprising:

(a) a bag-contacting area above said bottom edge and on each of two flat surfaces of said handle, and

(b) load-separation cuts, each of which is parallel to said top edge, transects a side edge, and extends inwardly at least 10% of the distance between the side edges to define the upper boundaries of the bagcontacting areas.

2. The dual-compartment shopping bag of claim 1, wherein the inward extremity of each load-separation cut curves into approximate alignment with stress edge lines in said adjacent walls of said open-mouth paper bags.

3. The dual-compartment shopping bag of claim 1, wherein a load-directing cut within each bag-contacting area intersects each load-separation cut; at its inward end, whereby a notch is created at each lower corner of the handle.

4. The dual-compartment shopping bag of claim 3, wherein the load-directing cut forms an angle of 60 to with the load-separation cut.

5. The dual-compartment shopping bag of claim 1, wherein said load-supporting handle is in divergent form as duplicate flat handles which are made of relatively flexible sheet material and are conjoined along said top edges.

6. The dual-compartment shopping bag of claim 1, wherein said load-supporting handle is in divergent form as a single piece of relatively flexible sheet material which is folded to create said top edge and produce duplicate flexible flat handles having a flap at each lower corner beneath each load-separation cut.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,691,741 1 1/ 1928 Snyder 22954 2,220,913 11/ 1940 Rin-gler. 2,479,700 8/ 1949 Pritchard 229-56 X 2,677,460 5 1 4 Johnson et a1. 2,893,549 7/ 1959 Jensen.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,25 3,685 1/ 1961 France.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner. 

1. A DUAL-COMPARTMENT SHOPPING BAG WHICH IS ACCESSBLE FOR LOADING WHILE BEING HAND-CARRIED, COMPRISING: (A) A PAIR OF OPEN-MOUTH PAPER BAGS IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP, EACH BAG HAVING A FLAT BOTTOM AND FOUR UPRIGHT WALLS, (B) A LOAD-SUPPORTING HANDLE, MADE OF SHEET MATERIAL, THAT IS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID PAPER BAGS AND IS ADHESIVELY ATTACHED TO THE TOP PORTIONS OF THE ADJACENT WALLS THEREOF, COMPRISING: (1) TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES, (2) SIDE EDGES THAT ARE SEPARATED BY APPROXIMATELY THE WIDTH OF SAID ADJACENT WALLS, (3) AN UPPER PORTION THAT INCLUDES A GRASPING MEANS, AND (4) A LOWER PORTION, COMPRISING: (A) A BAG-CONTACTING AREA ABOVE SAID BOTTOM EDGE AND ON EACH OF TWO FLAT SURFACES OF SAID HANDLE, AND (4) LOAD-SEPARATION CUTS, EACH OF WHICH IS PARALLEL TO SAID TOP EDGE, TRANSECTS A SIDE EDGE, AND EXTENDS INWARDLY AT LEAST 10% OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SIDE EDGES TO DEFINE THE UPPER BOUNDARIES OF THE BAGCONTACTING AREAS. 